Missile Defense Briefing Report: No. 309

IRON DOME IN DEMAND
In light its recent battlefield successes, both India and the United States have shown interest in Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system. New Delhi has expressed an interest in gaining the rights to produce the interceptor system directly – rather than purchasing directly and having Israelis assemble it. Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress has signaled support for increasing missile defense aid to Jerusalem, proposing to send $680 million in support of both Iron Dome and longer range Arrow-3 missile defense systems. (Tel Aviv Globes, December 12, 2012; UPI, December 14, 2012)

RUSSIA FEARS CHINESE NUKES
Retired Col. Gen. Viktor Yesin, former commander of Russia's nuclear forces, has warned that China's buildup of intermediate range nuclear missiles represents a growing threat to global stability. Per the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), the U.S. and Russia possess no such active nuclear missiles, but Beijing is not a signatory and thus not bound by the treaty. According to Yesin, the Chinese now possess between 1,600 and 1,800 nuclear weapons, far more than estimated by the United States. “China is pushing quite hard now in developing those systems and they are deploying them on the Russian border and it is threatening to the Russian Federation,” the general has told U.S. policymakers. (Washington Free Beacon, December 14, 2012)

A NEW SEA-BASED MISSILE FOR NEW DELHI
India is moving ahead with plans to test a new, submarine-launched ballistic missile. Once operational, the K-15 - which has a range of 435 miles - will be capable of being outfitted with either a conventional payload or a tactical nuclear warhead. The missile’s development is part of a number of steps aimed at bolstering India's deterrent in the face of a rising China and ongoing strategic competition with regional rival Pakistan. (Global Security Newswire, December 18, 2012)

ROMANIA, U.S. MOVE AHEAD ON MISSILE DEFENSE
The Romanian government has further formalized its role in the Obama administration's European Phased Adaptive Approach. Three additional documents recently signed by the Romanian National Defense Ministry and U.S. European Command "include two new implementation arrangements, one related to data about the troops, family members and contractors of the U.S. forces, and the other about exchanges of data, as well as an amendment to an implementation arrangement related to communications, which is already in force." That brings the total number of missile defense agreements signed between Romania and the United States to eight. The move is also part of preparations for 2015, "when NATO’s missile defense system will acquire the initial operational capability," Bogdan Aurescu, Romania's state secretary for strategic affairs, has said. (Global Security Newswire, December 19, 2012)

RUSSIA OPTS FOR INDIGENOUS RADAR
After much debate in Moscow about renewing the leasen for the Gabala radar station with Azerbaijan, the Russian government has decided to abandon Gabala in favor of a new anti-missile radar located in the Krasnodar region. The new Voronezh-DM class radar is set to go online in early 2013. The system, which is designed to be mobile, will join two other relatively new radar sites near the Irkutsk and St. Petersburg regions of Russia. Once operational, it will have a range of 6,000 kilometers, making it capable of detecting threats from as far away as Spain and India. (Moscow RIA Novosti, December 28, 2012)